Pages

Tuesday, 27 August 2013

Initiative Work to Fight Child Labour

EI welcomes this initiative by affiliates to initiate
international work to fight child labour. “Teachers are uniquely placed to make
sure that every child’s right to education, and furthermore to quality
education, is respected worldwide,” EI General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen said.

Pilot
project

The pilot project, drawing on
materials to be developed by the AFT and the JTA, non-governmental
organisations, governments, community groups and others, was launched on 19
August during the JTA’s annual conference. It will raise awareness among
students about the dangers of trafficking for forced labor or sexual exploitation,
will provide educators with resources to identify children who might be at
risk, and will harness community resources to try to protect those children and
advocate in schools, government agencies, legislative bodies and other venues
on behalf of survivors.

Over 5m
victims of child trafficking

These teacher unions are alarmed
at estimates by the International Labour Organisation that 5.5 million children
around the world are victims of human trafficking, and acknowledge that this is
a global problem. AFT and JTA fully believe that, as teacher unions, their
members are in contact with the children affected by this terrible crime and
are well-positioned to prevent and mitigate it among children at risk.

Teachers in
the frontline to eradicate child labour

“Teachers have a powerful role to
play in ensuring their students are safe,” AFT President Randi Weingarten said.
“With the materials that we develop for educators and other school staff, we
can help empower students to try to avoid dangerous situations and we can help
connect children in need to available services in their community.”

This is the kind of union the AFT
is, finding solutions and solving problems so it can reclaim the promise of
public education for every child in every community, she added.

Letter of
cooperation on joint work against child trafficking

AFT and JTA also signed a letter
of cooperation on joint work to combat child trafficking in Jamaica and the
United States. The letter lays out steps both education unions will take to
address child trafficking in their schools and communities.

“Our intention is that these
union-driven solutions to child trafficking will not only strengthen our
schools, communities and unions, but serve as a model throughout the region and
for our affiliate partners in Education International,” the letter stresses.